Duende: A Journey to the Heart of Flamenco
by Jason Webster
Almost three months after I came back from China; two fiction books (Murakami's Sputnik Sweetheart and Mistry's A Fine Balance); an ounce of guilt of not writing anything worthwile on dance except a few proposals, I discovered a book which anchors on flamenco, and guided me through a whole new perpective of what I previously thought simply as another hybrid dance culture.
Flamenco, as it turns out, sounds more like Dao (Taoism). A way (of life/living). It has compás (rumba, allegria, solea, etc) with always lyrical lyrics in it and dance to express an artform, but down to its root lies its vague origin and its deeper, impossible-to-translate meaning.
At last - I found a door to enter whatever 'spanishness' could take me. Ironically, from, er, an Englishman's point of view (which I could now somewhat comprehend). It's just a start; next time I'm in Madrid, I'd know more things to do. Visit those flamenco bars, and absorb. And probably go down to discover the Andalusian culture.
